Wednesday, January 12, 2011

WDW - TJ's "shopping day" Dinner

Do you ever find yourself grocery shopping and want to bring home an easy dinner for that night? I know I do. At Costco, it's usually the standard - a bag of salad mix and a roasted chicken - but when I'm shopping at Trader Joe's I love to bring home this easy dinner for us. And when I say easy - I mean easy! It's not even a recipe, in fact it's hardly cooking at all.

Have you ever tried this Sun Dried Tomato & Pesto torta? This little gem is found in the refrigerator section with the hummus and other ready-to-go dips. It has 3 layers: the bottom layer is chopped sun-dried tomatoes, the middle layer is pesto, and the top layer is like thick cream cheese. You can invert it out onto a plate and serve it with crackers for an easy and delicious appetizer, or... you can do my little trick and turn it into dinner! All you need to do is boil up some pasta, any kind you like - about 1/2-3/4 lb. depending on how saucy you like your pasta (we like it saucy, so I do closer to 1/2 lb. pasta) Then, when the pasta is done, drain it and immediately toss it with the whole contents of the torta. As you stir the torta into the hot pasta, it becomes this delicious, creamy pesto sauce with bits of sun-dried tomatoes! If it needs moistening you can stir in a little half and half or milk. I like to round out the meal with some of TJ's chicken Italian sausages, which I just brown in a skillet while the pasta cooks. This pasta dish would also be great with a grilled chicken breast sliced on top in the summertime. Add some nice crusty bread and you have yourself one delicious and easy dinner. And, IF there are any leftovers, chill them and you'll have a yummy pasta salad for lunch the next day. :-)

3 comments:

This looks great- and I LOVE the fact that its easy!! I must be TJ impaired because I can never seem to find anything that looks like I could make it for dinner?? I will keep trying though- and I will for sure try this recommendation!

Shh don't tell anyone but that might just be my new meal that I take to friends! I love that you can just add anything you like to make it your "own" pasta dish. I am not a red sauce girl so this great!

I have been thinking about this dish since you posted it and last night was so hectic with kids after school activites that I decided to give it a try. It was such a quick and easy dinner to whip up and my kids and husband loved it. Thanks so much for the idea!

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About Me

I live in a rural pocket of Los Angeles and am a Christian, a wife, a mother, and a grammie. My family is my biggest joy. I simply love being a homemaker and sharing bits of our blessed ranch life here on my blog.
Why "e-wife"? My husband nicknamed me that because I buy anything I can online. So, contrary to popular belief, the "e" actually stands for "electronic" and not "excellent" - though I do strive to be an excellent wife! ~ Proverbs 31:10